Thoughts of the Past
by Pseudo-daemonum
Summary: Some research left by Sora's ancestors. Details a theory of how all things in the universe are connected and what keeps the heart from being corrupted, What Sora's origins are. One Shot.


_Conclusions on Innocence_

_Subject Matter Pertaining to: Innocence and It's Importance Regarding the Heart-Conjecture on Theoretical Dark Creatures (Perfect Heartless)-Uses of Innocence Outside the Heart(Lockpicks)-End of the Hikari Clan-_

_Sundown, 13 II87_

_I am troubled and intrigued by our latest discoveries on the heart, particularly the matters regarding Innocence. Innocence in the heart is not simply a concept of what is pure; It is a bastion of light within the heart. A tangible defense mechanism. The heart, bestowed to every living creature along with soul and body is, like the soul and body extremely complicated, not to mention custom tailored to go with that body and soul, which is to say, a heart that does not belong to a body will not work well with it, or at all in almost any case. This is why nobodies seek to return their own hearts and not just random hearts. A body has appendages in order to defend itself and can physically attacks to keep itself from harm. The soul or what some might think of as the mind, directs the body and actions of a person balancing the logic that comes from what information the body's senses provide and the emotion that comes from the heart. It defends itself from mental rigors with self imposed barriers and also manipulates the magical energy that swirls around it at any given time providing defense from magic. I could speak of both these things for days, describing how both of these components work and operate, but those aspects of a being are described meticulously earlier in these pages. What lies before me is the Heart. While considering these things I came across the thought 'What defends the heart?' Both other pieces that compose any and every living being can protect themselves from outside assaults. Is the heart any less vulnerable than them, to an assault? What of the darkness that perpetually plagues us? That darkness that is, as I write this no doubt turning some of my own brethren into monsters. _

_The Key Blade can, of course purify a heart, although it is sent to Kingdom Hearts immediately after purification and permanently eliminates those that have been consumed by the darkness. Not killed because their body is still living and breathing but certainly not a real person. Thus the aptly named nobodies are created. Yet I have to wonder, 'What prevents this corruption of the heart? What stops darkness from simply flowing into a heart unchecked?' The answer is Innocence. As powerful as any blade or spell, Innocence protects our hearts from the invading darkness. Darkness enters the heart constantly but Innocence immediately forces it back out of the heart. Innocence is weakened over time along with the rest of the body so it too is also susceptible to the rigors of time. This is the reason that so few children turn into heartless. They have much Innocence and the strength to fight back the darkness. Adults however have had their innocence worn away by the darkness for years. It is weaker and can be eventually crushed by the darkness and consume the heart. The only people who are immune to the corrupting effects of darkness are the Princesses of Heart. Their Innocence is so grand, so powerful that the darkness cannot enter their hearts. And since the darkness is unable to get within the heart, the innocence cannot be destroyed. A brilliant, self perpetuating cycle of purity. And the brilliant thing about Innocence is that it contains the darkness within the heart even after the heart has been completely corrupted, keeping the body and soul safe while forcing the heart to leave the body. This creates heartless, regrettably, but keeps the world safer. It makes our job easier. I shudder to imagine what would happen if the innocence didn't separate the heart from the body and soul…_

_Imagine a being of pure darkness. Now give it a physical body of flesh and blood, not some mockery of a body that the heartless forge out of the darkness, but a real body. Now give it a mind, a working, thinking mind that can comprehend anything, with cognitive skills enhanced by the corrosive but undeniably great power of darkness. This creature would be extremely dangerous. The ruthless rage of a heartless, and the cunning of a nobody. A heartless not driven by it's hunger to devour more hearts. A nobody not trapped, writhing in it's own despair, seeking to be whole. Darkness given shape. A thing of nightmares, whimsically fulfilling any desire it conceives in the most efficient way possible. Whether it be killing a planet or conquering it. A madman on a killing spree. One who never rests, never tires, and isn't held back by morals. Innocence protects us from this. It seeks not only to defend it's host, but Kingdom Hearts itself, for undoubtedly one of these creatures would attempt to destroy Kingdom Hearts on some notion of madness. _

_We have encountered few creatures that near this theoretical one's strength in our travels. The Pursuer class Chasers are probably the closest. Never have we met stronger opponents than the greatest warriors at the Chasers' disposal, yet they would not have the strength that these…Perfect Heartless would have. For the Pursuers have their hearts contaminated by darkness, or so we believe, but not their heart and soul. We are not sure how but their mind and body are kept pure, their hearts not working in perfect conjunction with their Minds and Bodies creating a prenaturally powerful being, but one that could still be controlled. This is all academic of course since we defeated all the Chasers ages ago. Still I do not believe the Pursuers could stand against a Perfect Heartless and come out the victor in any battle but one where every aspect is weighted against the Perfect Heartless._

_There are of course some heartless who are so powerful that it seems like they might fall into this classification but I doubt it very much. They are simply powerful regular heartless. They may have retained some cognitive abilities but they have no body of their own and therefore must either possess the body of someone who isn't a heartless, who will no doubt resist them as they must at least have some light in their body so they do not become heartless, or these heartless must create their own body out of darkness which would take significant power to maintain. The Perfect Heartless would be in synch in all aspects and have no such restrictions as they would have a body of their own. These monsters would be closer to an ascendant god of darkness than a fallen human. What it would be like to find or even create a creature such as this…I quail to even consider it. _

_But my scientific mind must continue to ask such questions as these, for with such power in combating darkness I must believe that there are alternative uses for Innocence. This may very well be what gives a Key Blade it's power. And if this is true then we may very well be able to synthesize Key Blades. What a boon that would have been in helping our cause to defeat the heartless forever._

_Of course meddling with the heart is not something to be taken lightly. It would take years of study in order to remove innocence from the heart and even then there is a distinct possibility that it would not be approved. The only way I can imagine that we could remove innocence from an average person in large enough quantities to press into our own use and not create a perfect heartless would be to use a child. One who's innocence was intact. I suppose we could use an adult, but the chances of us finding one with a mind and body strong enough to withstand the darkness that would certainly assault it would be…astronomical. I will have to convince our patriarch. I shall have to be…subtle. His wife is currently with child; a healthy boy, or at least that is what my dear brother is claiming. He is strong, granted, and a masterful tactician. But his infernal desire to see the good in every person and creature continues to baffle me. And often I find that he believes strength of heart determines everything; that the power of the person's convictions can save them. It's weaponry and power that make a good warrior. Not the hope that you will win a fight. How he became our leader I shall never know. But if I can convince him of the power of Innocence, and find a few children who have been abandoned by the worlds I can test the potential and perhaps even devise a way to destroy the heartless forever. _

_Sundown 21 II87_

_It has taken a week but I have finally convinced my brother of the potential power that can be found in Innocence. He has agreed to help me and has found six children who have been cast off. I feel a sense of guilt about the fact that I am most certainly sending them into a life of misery and despair. Their ages are varied but only by a year or so between each, which is good and most seem very well balanced. I have developed a process much faster that I had thought previously possible. It is extremely effective and seemingly painless. It removes some, but not all of a person's innocence and puts them in a cryogenic sleep. We then send them to a far away world, blocked off from everything, allowing them to be peaceful and slowly restore some of their innocence. I doubt it will be enough to wholly make up for what we take, but it shall help. _

_Sundown 23 II87_

_The extraction was completely successful. We sent the children to a prosperous planet known as Radiant Garden. It is ruled by a wise man, so if anyone can keep these children pure it is him. But that is unimportant. What is important is what we have learned of Innocence. The power of it is beyond what even we thought. Used in a raw form it can eliminate heartless with untold effectiveness, but this valuable resource is far too costly to use in such a method for while an tiny bit of innocence can kill many heartless it would disappear immediately after word, an impractical use. We have also developed a way to enhance our drive form equipment so another heart does not temporarily fuse with it. Instead we just permanently fuse some of the Innocence. Quite effective as a solo person can temporarily increase their power vastly. But there are other methods we have created for using it far more effectively. We have managed to create two Keyblade replica's using the Innocence. However, the process is flawed, although likely will improve with time. Both the Keyblades are extremely weak and no longer than a dagger. We are currently devising ways to create better one's but we have run out of Innocence. I asked my brother if I could take some from his child. It is due in only a month. He said no, of course. I was not very hopeful for that possibility anyway, but if he is anything like my brother that child will be strong so I saw no flaw in attempting to ask. _

_Still…one of my younger cousins who I have begun to mentor has come to me with a startlingly brilliant idea. He suggested that we combine a keyblade replica with darkness. Not unheard of course but it inspired me to a new idea. The darkness has in the past seeped into a few keyblades through corrupted owners. But a new option has crossed my mind. What if we purposely combined a Keyblade with a heartless. Or a nobody. Lucky for us we managed to create two replicas. I shall attempt to fuse a dark creature with each of my replicas. The process will take time but I believe I have a theory on how I can make it work…_

_MourningStar 15 II87_

_I have discovered several references in my family's archives on methods to enhance a Keyblade with darkness. Truly, my ancestors were brilliant. I have added my own findings on Innocence to that research. However, the power of such enhancements combined with my own to a keyblade…It is true that both weapons fused with the dark creatures with wonderful success, proving to be nearly as powerful as a natural Keyblade. However, their potential has yet to be fully unleashed. I believe that my ancestor's research on fusing the keyblade with darkness is the key to making them truly powerful. Powerful enough to destroy anything. Heartless, nobodies…people. Their hearts will return to kingdom hearts (if they have a heart that is.) What is troublesome is that my ancestors feared the power of a dark keyblade, so much so that they scattered the details of how to make one over several unique worlds, that have been lost to time. I'm sure they are still prospering somewhere but I have not found the time to look for them. They put the information in the hands of powerful individuals on each of these worlds. I can hardly blame them though. Dark Keyblades have started wars. But still, with Innocence's ability to contain and destroy darkness I believe I have found the best method to eliminate the heartless._

_MourningStar 20 II87_

_I see why my ancestors feared putting darkness directly into a keyblade. After further research into my family's archives I have discovered several unnerving facts about dark keyblades. First and foremost is the fact that at the creation of one through the desecration of a pure keyblade, a massive wave of corrosive darkness is unleashed. It turns anyone in it's path into a heartless. There are no exceptions. No matter who you are you are corrupted and changed. Also the owner of the keyblade at the time of conversion into a dark keyblade, 'becomes an unholy creature of a purely evil nature.' Apparently a number of people had died when they created the first one. A Perfect Heartless perhaps? I wonder…On a side note, my brother has become quite attached to my new replicas. My daggers, which I have affectionately named the lockpicks. And his son has been born but has yet to be named. _

_I need to collect my thoughts. Innocence is a powerful energy in the heart that defends it from darkness. It can also be used to synthesize weak keyblades available for common use, which can be further enhanced by combining them with heartless and nobodies. However, taking Innocence leaves a person more vulnerable to becoming a heartless and taking it all would inevitably create a Perfect Heartless. Infusing a keyblade with the power of darkness increase it's power but turns it's owner into what I believe is a Perfect Heartless: a heartless that has kept it's original body and soul, as well as turning anyone nearby at the time of corruption into a heartless. They hid the method for doing this over various worlds so such a thing would never happen again. My daggers could theoretically be enhanced in the same manner. Of course if we used Innocence in the process as well we could almost definitely prevent the shock wave that turns others into heartless and possibly the original owner's transformation into a Perfect Heartless. There is still so much research to be done. _

_MourningStar 22 II87_

_There is still so much research to be done…My life is over. Most of my family's is. The Chasers have returned. I have suspicions as to how, but that is pointless now. I have sealed away all our research. Now only someone who wields my replicas may open up our information vaults. My brother is preparing to escape with his family on our last two gummy ships. Even now he is here in my lab, preparing. I am filling his ship with all pertinent information regarding the Chasers. I have discovered horrible information regarding the creation of the dark keyblades and my own daggers. The power to destroy a heart is contained within them. If one were to combine the lockpicks with the darkness using the technique that my family had hidden they would have the power to not just exorcise a heart, but to destroy a heart. To destroy Kingdom Hearts. That could destroy everything in our universe. What horror have I created? But, there is a silver lining to my gravest mistake. If this were to be used on the Chasers then we could destroy them forever._

_He has just left. He took the off on his own to lead them away. His wife is taking my nephew Sora, which means 'clear sky' in the other ship and will find some peaceful world where the boy can be raised in peace. I find that the name he received is appropriate for his already distinct personality and I pray that they all survive although my brother's prospects are as grim as my own. The heartless and Chasers are knocking at my door now. Heh. I have one more surprise for them. I managed to extract all of my innocence earlier. I can feel my sanity slipping from me like grains of sand through my fingers. A few splotches of darkness have already appeared on my skin. But I have converted my own innocence into a bomb. As soon as I move from my seat, a massive explosion of Innocence and fire will engulf my lab destroying every living thing in it. Ah there goes the door. I am just about to send this to my sister-in-law's ship's computer as she has just left. Goodbye. I will always love you Jeane. _

The last words of Janos Hikari-Head researcher of the Hikari organization prior to the return of the Chasers.

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End file.
